Support NeoGAF

[Barryman]

And everyone “got it.” It was a reality-kinda-sorta-thing. Sponsors would be there. Mountain Dew would be there. Dramatic tension was likely unavoidable on some level, and the prizes would be dumb. If anything it was just poor planning, and maybe some questionable brand integration. But no one, not a single person there, expected Matti to push the stuff so unnaturally, barring any drink that wasn’t water or Dew from being consumed while the cameras were rolling. Even the development manna that is coffee was barred from set, and if anyone wanted some they had to leave their workstations and get it over by where I was sitting – an unlit chunk of Rodeo-side workspace normally occupied by someone named Brad. Then came the demands.

Davey was forced to take off his nail polish because he couldn’t hold the can with it on. Zoe had to take off the buttons she usually wears on her jacket, but shouted down a PA who tried to make her cover her tattoos. The Arcane Kids were screamed at for not holding bottles right, while the entire group was lectured on how to properly smile like you’re enjoying the product – a product that everyone was enjoying less and less. The slow train wreck of faces flipping into scowls marked only the beginning of what would soon turn into an utter shitshow.

It went on down the line. Is Zoe off her game? Are women coders a disadvantage to their groups? Point by point the questions were shot down, until he reached Adriel’s team and asked if they were at any sort of advantage by having a pretty girl with them.

I cannot begin to impress upon you the psychological effect this line had on everyone. The idea that these professionals, who stake their livelihoods on code and design, might be reduced to “pretty faces” and antiquated gender stereotypes, an idea perpetuated by the guy who was ostensibly in charge, was like hitting the biggest nerve in the history of nerves with a pneumonic drill. Adriel built shit that flies around in space. It’s probably flying around in space right now.

http://indiestatik.com/2014/03/31/most-expensive-game-jam/

 

[Ouren]

Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Mountain Dew will do that to people man

 

[Tadale]

I read this. How to you build something like this for indie developers and not know that it's going to go over like a lead balloon?

 

[IronRinn]

God fucking damn it, I was just posting this.

Ugh.

Anyway, some further reading.

Here is Zoe Quinn's take.

Robin Arnott's take.

And Adriell Wallick's take.

 

[pa22word]

Sounds like they effectively aaa-ified indie development. I said wow.

 

[SwiftDeath]

What the event was supposed to be

GAME_JAM didn’t start out as a reality show – I know that for a fact. The original concept work came from Indie Statik’s then-face Josh Mattingly and Game Jolt founder David DeCarmine, back before that ugliness back in January lost us half our staff and an EIC in around twelve minutes. By then the natal idea had already been picked up by Maker’s Polaris vertical, which deals in gaming entertainment and editorial offerings for a mostly YouTube-based audience, and was tossed into the hands of Aaron Umetani and Jason Serrato, two onsite producers who specialize in larger projects going back farther than I’ve actually been here (and I’ve been here a while).

That natal idea, and one of the themes central to all 11 developers agreeing to travel to Los Angeles for the shoot, was the production and filming of a game jam for a televised audience (or at least a YouTube audience) with the intent to document the ups and downs of actually developing a game – hopefully sharing that experience with a viewership likely ranging into the hundreds of thousands, possibly millions. More importantly, it would be an opportunity for the group to share the closely-knit spirit of togetherness unique to indie development, presented through the lens of popular YouTube personalities with massive, mostly younger built-in viewerships. A slam dunk, you might say, created in earnest to shine a kind of light into the often misrepresented world of creating… or at least, that’s what everyone thought.

What the event became before Day Zero

At some point GAME_JAM outgrew itself, attracting the attention of major sponsors as well as a couple of our ‘high creative’ production executives from the adjacent office down the street, and over the next four or five months the show began phasing into something less documentary and more docu-tainment. A sort of competition, held between four teams of ‘Jammers’ (the developers), and ‘Gamers’ (the YouTubers), as they battled it out to see who could come up with the best game combining both development and entertainment skillsets. Plus to see who could win a healthy array of branded prizes, generously procured by said sponsors and totally un-vetted by anyone who actually understands game development. At some point which remains unclear, the show wholly dipped into a scripted reality slant and became less about making a game and more about creating drama for sake of the audience, less than one day out of the four blocked off for shooting available to sit down and jam. The rest of the program, as it turned out, was filled with arts and crafts, physical challenges, and competitive gaming – once again, totally unrelated to game development. But that wasn’t communicated to anyone, and through Polaris’ local contacts the developers were signed up and flown out to Culver City, where they awaited their first hurdle in Maker’s legal department.

 

[TheBear]

What's a Game Jam?

 

[The Technomancer]

Oh wow..this sounds like a nightmare

 

[Prototype Viktor]

Sounds like it was a....Code Red

 

[Prophet Steve]

What's a Game Jam?

You create a game, in a team or alone in a certain time limit. Usually two days or something but can even be a few weeks.

 

[Brakke]

Dew man. Dew and anybody who associates with it.

 

[Lissar]

It's too bad that an opportunity to show off the indie/game jam community failed so spectacularly, but I suppose it was sadly inevitable.

From Adriel's blog post:

So there I was – at about 99% capacity of what I could deal with in terms of corporate bullshit and sexism – and then the final straw. The two all male teams were questioned in a similar fashion:

“Do you think the teams with women on them are at a disadvantage?”

It's kind of stunning to me that this guy actually asked that. But then I mostly live in an indie bubble where women are treated on the same level as men. I'm sure this guy felt it would make "good TV" to get everyone riled up like that, but didn't count on the community not sitting there and taking that shit.

 

[Lord of Castamere]

I saw some of the Youtube 'personalities' posting that it had crashed and burned but wasn't interested in doing anymore research. This just continues to reinforce the danger Mountain Dew poses against the industry we hold dear. Soon it will consume as all.

Honestly though that's the problem with California, greed can happen anywhere but it seems small events with good ideas in Cally get corrupted at an insane pace in comparison. This is a good idea though so hopefully a 2nd round with Doritos will go better in the future.

 

[Palette Swap]

Jesus, what a trainwreck.

And lol @ the pretty girl question considering her resume and competence. Best summed up by that:

Adriel built shit that flies around in space. It’s probably flying around in space right now.

 

[chrominance]

For some reason I find the article really hard to read--anyone else finding this? Parts of it feel very inside baseball, like I'm just supposed to know who Polaris and Maker and a bunch of the indie devs are supposed to be. I wouldn't even know who Zoe Quinn is except for Depression Quest and the appearance she made on Scoops and the Wolf. Oh, and Josh Mattingly, because of that really awful sexual harassment stuff that I assume is what the writer is referring to when he talks about "what went down in January." And I can't figure out where exactly the reporter sits in all this, as there's this weird reference to Indiestatik somehow being involved but then also not, and he's not involved with Indiestatik but sort of is, and somehow he's totally fine to report on this despite what appears to be odd conflicts of interest based on his maybe-maybe-not affiliations with various involved parties. But then why would Indiestatik even report on this at all if it makes something they were involved in look so awful, so I guess they must not be, and basically I stopped reading because nothing in the piece is making sense to me?

I'll take another shot at this later, or maybe I'll just read the reports of the people involved like Zoe and Robin.

 

[malboroking]

After reading the blog post from Adriell, Im pretty disgusted and glad that they stood about against sexist bullshit that is all to pervasive in the IT world. Also, I was seeing magenta for like 5 minutes afterwards =P

 

[aeolist]

good on these developers for sticking up for themselves, and good on maker for not attempting to force the issue once the whole thing went to shit

that's about the only positive thing i can say. the whole thing sounds like it was a train wreck from the word go.

 

[Dennis]

Mountain Ew

 

[aeolist]

For some reason I find the article really hard to read--anyone else finding this? Parts of it feel very inside baseball, like I'm just supposed to know who Polaris and Maker and a bunch of the indie devs are supposed to be. I wouldn't even know who Zoe Quinn is except for Depression Quest and the appearance she made on Scoops and the Wolf. And I can't figure out where exactly the reporter sits in all this, as there's this weird reference to Indiestatik somehow being involved but then also not, and he's not involved with Indiestatik but sort of is, and somehow he's totally fine to report on this despite what appears to be odd conflicts of interest based on his maybe-maybe-not affiliations with various involved parties. But then why would Indiestatik even report on this at all if it makes something they were involved in look so awful, so I guess they must not be, and basically I stopped reading because nothing in the piece is making sense to me?

I'll take another shot at this later, or maybe I'll just read the reports of the people involved like Zoe and Robin.

i think regular readers of the site probably know all the names involved, but this guy is a freelancer who writes for indiestatik (who just had a just sexism scandal), knows all these developers, and also freelances for maker (a very large youtube network) and polaris (one of maker's brands on youtube that focuses on gaming and tech) but in this case was basically just hanging out on the set because he knew everyone and wasn't getting paid

 

[V_Ben]

Yeah, this whole thing sounds gross. Wow.

 

[Kai Dracon]

I swear Moutain Dew is the glowing green mutagen of gaming that warps anything it comes into contact with.

 

[chrominance]

i think regular readers of the site probably know all the names involved, but this guy is a freelancer who writes for indiestatik (who just had a just sexism scandal), knows all these developers, and also freelances for maker (a very large youtube network) and polaris (one of maker's brands on youtube that focuses on gaming and tech) but in this case was basically just hanging out on the set because he knew everyone and wasn't getting paid

Okay, so should I take this to be less an investigative piece and more of a first-person account of what the author saw go down?

 

[Barryman]

Okay, so should I take this to be less an investigative piece and more of a first-person account of what the author saw go down?

Yes, that's how it seemed to me. I know a few of the people involved and I still was befuddled by some of the references.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Pretty gross.

 

[aeolist]

Okay, so should I take this to be less an investigative piece and more of a first-person account of what the author saw go down?

exactly. in this case i'd compare it to war reporting.

 

[KarmaCow]

It's kinda surreal how hard they tried to make drama and controversy in the most blatant and lazy way possible. God damn at those questions, good on everyone else shutting that shit down immediately.

 

[licktheenvelope]

"Do you think you’re at an advantage because you have a pretty lady on your team?"

Straight up would have punched the guy in the face.

 

[PROOP]

Peter Molyneux was right, this will be the downfall of the indie scene.

 

[Intheflorsh]

That sounds like the absolute worst possible environment to try and code in.

 

[LTWood12]

The fact that a guy like that was in charge at this thing is unbelievable. Like they literally picked Mr. Dude Bro Corporate Bullshit.

 

[slabrock]

Corporate sponsorship and reality tv tactics, what a great combination for a game jam. With all the great prizes such as lawn chairs and cases of soda why would they label them as "mystery prizes?" Loved to read Adriell's take.

 

[rrs]

I swear Moutain Dew is the glowing green mutagen of gaming that warps anything it comes into contact with.

And tastes awful unless you mix something in it. Same for Doritos but there's no saving that.

Corporate sponsorship and reality tv tactics, what a great combination for a game jam. With all the great prizes such as lawn chairs and cases of soda why would they label them as "mystery prizes?" Loved to read Adriell's take.

Dudebro prizes.

 

[jooey]

i think regular readers of the site probably know all the names involved, but this guy is a freelancer who writes for indiestatik (who just had a just sexism scandal), knows all these developers, and also freelances for maker (a very large youtube network) and polaris (one of maker's brands on youtube that focuses on gaming and tech) but in this case was basically just hanging out on the set because he knew everyone and wasn't getting paid

and could just be a bad writer!

 

[aeolist]

and could just be a bad writer!

eh, he needed an editor to take a machete to it but overall it's a good piece that drags a bit in the beginning

 

[Objectively Bad Opinion]

I'm drinking Mountain Dew right now.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Moutain Dew tastes exactly like the "Lime" flavored Barium Contrast they had me drink once when doing a scan of my colon. They also injected some in me the other way.

So yeah, whenever I think of Mountain Dew, I always think of a radioactive enema.

And yet, reading this, I still think these guys will forever have worse associations.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

For some reason I find the article really hard to read--anyone else finding this? Parts of it feel very inside baseball, like I'm just supposed to know who Polaris and Maker and a bunch of the indie devs are supposed to be.

The article is horribly written, either way.

 

[Mesoian]

Hollywood, ladies and gentlemen.

Well...Burbank.

But yeah.

At some point GAME_JAM outgrew itself, attracting the attention of major sponsors as well as a couple of our ‘high creative’ production executives from the adjacent office down the street, and over the next four or five months the show began phasing into something less documentary and more docu-tainment. A sort of competition, held between four teams of ‘Jammers’ (the developers), and ‘Gamers’ (the YouTubers), as they battled it out to see who could come up with the best game combining both development and entertainment skillsets. Plus to see who could win a healthy array of branded prizes, generously procured by said sponsors and totally un-vetted by anyone who actually understands game development. At some point which remains unclear, the show wholly dipped into a scripted reality slant and became less about making a game and more about creating drama for sake of the audience, less than one day out of the four blocked off for shooting available to sit down and jam. The rest of the program, as it turned out, was filled with arts and crafts, physical challenges, and competitive gaming – once again, totally unrelated to game development. But that wasn’t communicated to anyone, and through Polaris’ local contacts the developers were signed up and flown out to Culver City, where they awaited their first hurdle in Maker’s legal department.

This sounds like some "King of the Nerds" shit right here.

 

[chrominance]

The article is horribly written, either way.

Okay, I didn't want to be harsh but I kind of felt the same way and thank goodness it's not just me going crazy.

 

[Pikawil]

GAME_JAM didn’t start out as a reality show – I know that for a fact. The original concept work came from Indie Statik’s then-face Josh Mattingly and Game Jolt founder David DeCarmine, back before that ugliness back in January lost us half our staff and an EIC in around twelve minutes. By then the natal idea had already been picked up by Maker’s Polaris vertical

[...]

It went on down the line. Is Zoe off her game? Are women coders a disadvantage to their groups? Point by point the questions were shot down, until he reached Adriel’s team and asked if they were at any sort of advantage by having a pretty girl with them.

I cannot begin to impress upon you the psychological effect this line had on everyone. The idea that these professionals, who stake their livelihoods on code and design, might be reduced to “pretty faces” and antiquated gender stereotypes, an idea perpetuated by the guy who was ostensibly in charge, was like hitting the biggest nerve in the history of nerves with a pneumonic drill. Adriel built shit that flies around in space. It’s probably flying around in space right now.

This disgusting show of misogyny is the secret of their new subsidiary the Disney empire never wanted the masses to know. Unfortunately, the masses know now. The Level Infinite Disney Lawyers will have a PR shitstorm on their hands to clean...

 

[KnightHart]

Well, the writing quality behind the article aside, holy shit it really can be summarized by "Interesting and cool idea to present to a mostly Youtube-Centric audience, which was then fucked by Hollywood."

The image this created in my head is very amusing:

"It took around twenty minutes for the man with flowers in his hair to storm out of the building sans job, his trilby, director’s scarf and lit e-cig marking the last time I’d see him."

I can see why Jontron and some of the other Youtubers involved basically tweeted stuff along the lines of "Fuck this let's go to Disneyland" (literally, they did actually) the past few days. Apparently TotalBiscuit was one of the judges chosen but declined the offer. Looks he like he kinda dodged a stupid and infuriating bullet.

https://twitter.com/Totalbiscuit/status/450738675849371648

 

[dragonbane]

Gross stuff. Read the entire thing. Glad that asshole got fired.

 

[polyh3dron]

Well...Burbank.

But yeah.

Thanks, sick of my town getting shit for things like this lol

 

[Uncle Rupee]

And Adriell Wallick's take.

Holy shit @

From the beginning there were potential problems with the “Green Label Game Jam” (branded on set as “GAME_JAM”). The contract was full of corporate legalese. There were clauses about being allowed to misrepresent us in any way on any topic for “dramatic effect”. There were sections barring developers from appearing on any form of broadcast media for a period of time longer than anyone should be comfortable with (honestly even any time was too much time). Many of the participants were the sole faces of their company. We, off the bat, would be risking our reputations – our livelihoods – to participate in this jam. We negotiated the contract as a group. We reworded the most egregious sections – but not before having to push back for days.

 

[ephemeral garbage]

How incredibly depressing. Really glad they all did the right thing and walked away.

 

[BiggNife]

Sloppy writing aside, the actual story and the events that transpired are fucking crazy. Good on everyone there to band together against Matti's douchiness.

I am almost impressed at how they managed to trick the contestants into thinking it was going to be an actual unscripted competition and not a reality show. I know there's no way in hell people like Zoe Quinn would have agreed if they knew, and her account says as much.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

Being forced to drink soda on camera sounds like a health issue, christ.

 

[Silky]

But I like Mountain Dew! ; A; Not all Mountain Dews are like that!

Jokes aside, this was a pretty disgusting thing to see.

Kind of off topic, but I noticed something about Quinn having beef with JonTron. I know the latter's an annoying goober but what he do

 

[MThanded]

Holy shit @

That clause is in almost every reality tv show contract. Despicable. Yes. Uncommon. No.

They almost always invent narratives that are not true.